Newsletter #164

December 7, 2001

Greetings Accumulators!

Today is my brother, Arnie's birthday. Funny thing, he used to be my kid brother, but now he's older than I am. Hey, if Gateway Computers can convince the American public that cows are male, anything is possible.

FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF STEP RIGHT UP, EVERYONE'S A WEINERThanks to my good friend, Ron McCoy for this one. Here's a link to the Oscar Mayer site, where you can learn all about the Weinermobile, see the interior of one, and even virtually drive it around town, learn the history of the Wienermobile Whistle, and take part in a census. I confess I love the Wienermobile. Always have. I'd actually rather own one than a Lexus.
It's been an unrealized dream of mine to ride in one. A few months ago I was standing on a street corner in midtown Manhattan, waiting for the light to turn green. It was an enormous intersection, the one in front of Macy's
and, as I waited, suddenly traveling up the street, going east on 34th
Street were not one, not two, but three Wienermobiles in a row. I was
thrilled! However, I was the only one who seemed to notice that the
Wienermobiles were even there. It is not easy to impress New Yorkers. One
morning John Kennedy Jr. and I literally collided on the corner of Park
Avenue and 86th Street. I said, "Oh, excuse me". He said, "Oh, excuse me."
Then he got on his bicycle and pedaled away. It was the height of the
morning rush hour. I looked around me and not a single person had even
noticed he was there. I don't think it's because New Yorkers are bored or
disinterested. It's just - well, you know the crazy guy that hangs out down
by the 7-11 store in your town? The one with the purple Mohawk haircut and
the ten facial piercings? In New York there are millions of guys like that.
In some neighborhoods, EVERYONE is like that. We are a magnet for weirdoes
here. Add that to the fact that there's so much traffic in New York that
everyone is always late for everything, so they're always in a hurry, and
you can see why New Yorkers don't notice a lot of things. But, I digress.
Here's the URL for that site. Go, have a good time.
<OSCAR MAYER.

NOT VERY GOOD NEWS DEPARTMENTIn the aftermath of September 11, all kinds of dismal numbers are coming
in, some more disturbing than others. For example, Baseball Commissioner
Bud Selig announced that professional baseball teams lost 500 million
dollars. That's about equal to one player's annual salary, isn't it? But
now for something that actually matters: the Bush administration has
announced that, in an effort to reduce spending to pay for the war on
terrorism, it is proposing cuts in the budget of The Smithsonian
Institution. The White House Office of Management and Budget informed the
Smithsonian last week that it wanted to hold the Institution's budget next
year to $470.2 million, a reduction of $27 million, or 5.4 percent. This is
not a good thing. It will make a big dent in the Smithsonian's ability to
do research, and will almost certainly reduce services and hours for
vistors to the Institution's exhibit halls. Maybe the administration should
drop its plans to refund back taxes to all those corporate giants instead.

WHAT MAKES WOMEN SO CRAZYI'll tell you what it is: the idea that we're not okay the way we are. My
Mom has always told me that a woman, now matter how wonderful her body is,
thinks there's something wrong with the way she looks, but a man, no matter
how awful his body is, thinks he looks just fine. A new exhibit at The
Metropolitan Museum of Art is not to be missed, if you come to New York
between now, and March 17, 2002. The title of the show is "Extreme Beauty:
The Body Transformed". It is a display of body altering devices like
corsets, bustles, billowing sleeves, enormous skirts, high collars. It
includes devices that truly alter the body, like Chinese foot binding, and
those neck coils that are visited upon Burmese girls from the age of 6
years, to stretch their necks (actually, they lower the shoulders). Some of
the items were designed solely for the runway, never meant to be worn in
the real world. An example: A Christian Dior kimono made of silk trimmed
with pink fur, pompoms and hair clips, and topped with a fur and bead
headdress. Doesn't appeal to you? Well, then there's a 1995 Thierry Mugler
cyborg suit made of chrome-plated Fiberglas with clear plastic panels
strategically placed to violate the model's privacy. Or the Givenchy silver
bustier - with nipples - that extends up to the jawline. See, comfort has
nothing to do with it. To learn more about the exhibit, visit the Museum's
web-site at
METROPOLITAN MUSEUM.

Okay, Accumulators, I've gone on long enough. Time to let He Who Is The
Light Of My Life have the computer. Tomorrow, it's off to the country house
to continue working, working, working. Everyone get out there and shop! It
will, of course, all be gone if you don't (not!). Have a great week,
Accumulators. Happy hunting!
Best,
Judith

RIP George Harrison. Thank you for the many gifts you've given us through
the years.